The Start of Something New
by TheWazzupPeople
Summary: Kowalski goes overboard with an experiment and the penguins turn human! Now they have to adjust to the ordinary life... Meaning getting part time jobs, going to high school and even learning to drive. Marlene and the lemurs also join the fun ;
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- I do not own PoM. :P **

**Summary: Kowalski goes overboard with an experiment and the penguins turn human! Now they have to try living the ordinary life... Meaning getting part time jobs, going to high school and even learning to drive. But the penguins are not there alone, Marlene and the lemurs join the fun too!**

**Plot may change. :P **

It was a normal day at the zoo. Normal weather. Normal people. Normal surroundings… just TOO normal.

The sun was shining with just the right amount of clouds, casting a happy aura around the small zoo. Not much noise seemed to be bothering the quiet atmosphere; even the lemurs were making very little noise, giving the other animals some well-needed rest.  
>Everything and everybody seemed fine. No trouble was spotted for miles.<br>The birds sang and the leaves blew coolly in the wind, while the air was filled with delicious smelling aromas from a pastry store nearby.

Meanwhile, Skipper was going crazy waiting for something (anything) to happen. A mission, a cry for help… something to get him back to action, and out this godforsaken routine.  
>For two weeks straight, the only thing he did out of the ordinary was perfect his combat training, which to him, seemed like a big disappointment. No mission has been completed and no bad guys have been fought. Huge disappointment.<br>Even his men were starting to fall into the same old boring routine, and at the moment (as usual) Rico was playing with his doll, Private was watching LunaCorns, and Kowalski was doing some bizarre experiment.  
>Skipper sighed and continued drinking his bittersweet coffee, sitting on his favorite chair, reading the new copy of today's news. Maybe something different has happened? He flipped the page. No. Slow news day as usual. He took a glance at the headline: <em><strong>"Hippies Taking a higher place in today's society" <strong>_and immediately felt sick, switching to another page.  
>He shook his head. Was this his fate? Wasting his time on a lumpy chair, doing nothing but… reading?<p>

"Hey guys!" Marlene interrupted his thoughts, as she entered the HQ cheerfully. Without permission, Skipper noted but let it slide… 'Just this once' he told himself.

"Uhh Marlene! Come, come, don't be shy. Step in, feel at home. Want something to drink? Maybe a quick game of chess?" he asked, desperation edging in his tone. Right there and then he admitted to himself that he was bored out of his wits.

"No thanks, Skipper" she said slowly, noticing a bit of change in his behavior. "I just came to visit. Isn't it a lovely day?" she said with a wide smile played on her lips.

"Hello, neighbors!" King Julian barged in also. 'Dont these people ever knock?' he thought angrily.

"Ringtail? What a... Pleasant surprise." His voice showed no enthusiasm, though Julian didn't seem to notice, and just continued "Are you glad to see your king?" he smirked.

"Delighted." He muttered.

"I knew you always adored me" he smiled foolishly, getting himself a snack from the fridge. "Ringtail!" Skipper growled angrily at the lemur standing before him stuffing his face with stale popcorn. "What?"  
>He had half a mind to kick that rude lazy annoying lemur out! But deciding against it. "Just… chew with your mouth closed." He rubbed his temples, clearly annoyed.<p>

"Hey what is up with the smarty penguin?" Julian said, mouth still open (to Skipper's irritation) pointing to Kowalski whose invention was glowing bright green.

"Oh that? Just an experiment of Kowalski's. It's supposed to that...I think."

"Anything that Kowalski makes always hands up in a vile explosion, so I wouldn't consider that out of the ordinary." Marlene chimed into the conversation.

"Just because you're in the other room doesn't mean I can't hear you!" Kowalski shouted out.

"Sorry Kowalski" Marlene shouted back.

Odd silence filled the room, but Skipper ignored it and continued to read some boring article about shoes.

"I do believe in the power of friendship, Princess Self-Respectra!" Private's blurted out of nowhere, eyes fixed on the TV.

"Who is this princess you speak of?" Julian took interest and sat next to Private. Private gleefully explained to him, and they started to have a conversation about how "honesty is the best policy" or some sort of nonsense.

'This is NOT what an elite force team should be doing on a perfectly good Saturday...' Skipper thought drily, flipping a page.

"Skipper!" Kowalski came hurdling clumsily, clutching his notepad in one hand and in the other a worn-out pen.

"What is it soldier?" 'Probably another experiment'

"Well I was experimenting..." He started off

"Big shocker."

"And I think I've figured out a way to turn ants into grasshoppers!" he exclaimed excitedly.

'Is this what as become of our team? Now really? Why the heck would we need an ant-to-grasshopper transformer for?'

"So what do you think?" Kowalski looked at him with big eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, it's good Kowalski. Now you get run along and invent some over useless device, like a fridge to freezer transformer." he rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Kowalski frowned, but continued, "It can also do other stuff!"

"Like what...?" Marlene asked curiously.

"Can it make kings even more kingly?" Julien asked.

"Ummm I'm not really sure yet but I'm sure it's awesome!" he beamed. "Now I can make it turn all the ants in the HQ radius turn to grasshoppers! Just wait and watch..." he typed all type of scientific info into the machine and was about to press enter.

"Kowalski I'm not sure that it's the best ide-" a loud screeching noise cut Skipper short.

At first, nothing happened. "Huh?" Kowalski wondered. "Not another failed experiment!" he groaned, slapping his forehead.

More light came from the machine, and suddenly, the room started to spin and the ceiling disappeared.

"Why am I not surprised?" Skipper thought.

A strange feeling tingled in Skipper's body, as if someone was stretching him, like play dough from the inside and expanding him. He was getting taller, 1 inch, 5 inches, 2 feet….

All his feathers disappeared slowly, one by one...

His flippers started separating into 5.

His beak was gone; teeth started forming in his mouth.

His body lost all of penguin form and began shaping itself differently.

His bones were on fires, the pain was explicable. He couldn't think properly.

"AHHH! What is happening to me?" he asked himself out loud.

"Guys where are you?" he yelled. He couldn't see anything. All he saw was colors... Pretty rainbow colors. 'Am I dead?' he wondered.

Then suddenly it all turned to black and BAM he passed out.

**Well I hope you liked it! I really hope it wasn't too rushed… I tried my best not too. Anyways this is the beginning of the story… meaning later chapters will probably be longer! :)**

**Edited: 4.2.12 **

**This still requires improvement, but it's better than before :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'd just like to say I've watched a really dramatic movie today and I was thinking of that when I wrote this chapter. It is definitely different then what I expected. But I just hope you enjoy it! I tried updating this as fast as possible! So there might be some mistakes or at some points a little rushed. Also if I make a mistake, I don't mind you telling me. :-)**

**Disclaimer- Blah Blah Blah I do not own PoM. Blah blah blah, I only own this plot.**

Skipper slowly awakened, a strange sensation tickling his senses. He swallowed a big gulp of air into his lungs and sighed in relief; at least he could breathe. He lay down on the concrete floor, margarine causing him to roll back, bringing his flippers towards his head. Wait that doesn't feel like his usual flipper, he thought confused, thought the continuing headache distracted him. The blood in his brain pulsed, making him forget completely about his altered flipper. He felt as if someone has tripled the size of his brain to fit much more needed information. It was not a necessarily a bad feeling, but a strange one at that. That wasn't the only internal organ that hurt, though. His side burned deeply, and he felt sick to his stomach, which now seemed enlarged.

He quickly opened his eyes, the light slightly blinding him, making him raise his flipper (slash mutation, whatever the heck that was) again to cover his tired eyes. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the light, he started to study his surroundings. He sucked up the pain in order to get a clear view as to where he was.  
>The well known restaurants and coffee shops gave him a reassuring feeling, knowing he was not far from home. He looked over at his favorite snow cone stand in the distance and smiled.<br>The smile did not last long, though, before Skipper began scratching his back quite annoyed. Something was making him itch. What was this cloth that was covering his body? "Ugh." he muttered in a low voice. He noticed the cloth was shaped to his body. Could he wearing that... Thing those inferior mammals (what were they called again. Ah, humans) called clothes?

"Impossible." he didn't quite believe his own voice. Could it be? He started feeling up his face, a nose and skin made contact with his hands. His eyes widened in realization.  
>'Oh god, Kowalski what a mess you made again...' he slapped his forehead.<br>His vision focused on his (now known) hand. Everything became even clearer. He was a human. Not a penguin. Not a bird; a stinking mammal. He shivered at the thought.  
>"Hey good you're awake!" a woman, probably in her mid 30's walked up to Skipper, snapping him out of his self wallowing.<br>"Hey." He said slowly, his tone curious. "Do I know you?" he scratched his head.  
>"You don't remember?" she questioned. "Well I wouldn't blame you. You got knocked out pretty hard there."<br>"What do you mean?"  
>"You seriously don't remember anything?" she asked seriously.<br>"Well I remember I was at the HQ and Kowalski did some sort of wacko experiment and..." he stopped himself. He was giving out classified information to a stranger! Has gone completely mad? Maybe this new brain isn't quite functioning properly. "and here I am..." he finished plainly.  
>"Is that all you remember?" She thought for a moment "Tell me Skipper, What's today's date?"<br>"I don't know" he shrugged. "Yesterday it was the 12th. So I'm guessing it is the 13th. Why?"  
>She shook her head, "No, Skipper, it is the 16th."<br>"That's impossible!" Not much more than everything else that's happened.  
>"Check the calendar if you don't believe me." she handed him a calendar of 2012 and, has she said, today was definitely the 16th.<br>"What is going on here?" he stared at her. Not only was he confused, but he also felt a sudden ping of fear. That was odd indeed, since he does not get scared by anything really.  
>"Do you really want to know?"<br>"I don't want to know. I demand to know!" He didn't like these newly found feelings, it wasn't him. It was a creepy mutation transplanted with his brain. 'Yeah, that must be it' he thought.  
>"Well last night we..." she started.<br>"Wait a second who's we?" he interrupted her abruptly.  
>"Me and a bunch of other scientists." she replied simply. "Well anyways, we saw you and 5 other people passed out on the floor. Well seeing I am a scientist I wanted to observe the matter. And I took you in..." she paused to let the information sink in.<br>He just nodded, telling her to continue.  
>"Well we took you in. We dressed you, gave you food. You seemed really puzzled about the all situation, the human thing. You kept asking us where you were. Your friends were also there, Marlene, Rico, Julian, Kowalski and Private. I hope I got it right"<br>"Private, Kowalski, Rico, Ringtail and Marlene. Yes you got it right. Now if I may ask, where are they?" It didn't come out as a question, more like a statement.  
>"Whoaaa, wait I'm getting there. Let me finish." She put on an obviously fake smile. He sighed, she's stalling and he was getting impatient. "Well then we wanted to run some tests seeing you were well... Different."<br>"Different how?" he raised an eyebrow.  
>"Different as in different behavior for a human" she answered.<br>"Ok. Well what happened next?" he asked slowly knowing she was leaving some valuable information out.  
>"Well I had to give you a shot with a needle. And seeing you were didn't want to get ummm a shot, you sort of ran away and uhhh we searched everywhere for you and now we found you. We are so relieved." she gave him big warm smile. 'Why don't I believe her?' he thought sarcastically.<br>"Oh are you now? Well if you were being sooo friendly then why would I of wanted to run away? I'm not that afraid of needles, (well that I am) but I wouldn't run away because of such a simple thing."  
>She shifted uncomfortably. Something was off about this woman, she was hiding something, and he just knew it.<br>"I don't know! You just were!"  
>He eyed her suspiciously. "Where is my team?" he asked once again.<br>"They're all safe and sound, don't worry. Now if you come with me, I just need to run a few tests."  
>"Run a few tests?" Skipper said to himself, "Wait I think I remember something."<p>

_"We will only run a few tests, no need to be afraid, Skipper" the woman said a needle in her hands. He didn't like her already.  
>"I don't trust you." he snarled.<br>"I know you're not human..." she said with a smile playing on your lip.  
>Kowalski and Rico looked worried, Private and Marlene were on the verge of fainting, and Ringtail was spacing out.<br>Skipper knew that woman was using them for her own benefit but what for, he wasn't sure.  
>She knew they weren't humans; she already took a DNA test to prove it. What comes next can't be good.<br>"Listen you can either come the easy way or the hard way. Either way, I'll still be getting what I want from you."  
>"You'll never take us alive." Skipper gave her a cold stare.<br>She just smiled wickedly. "Oh don't worry, Skipper. That's was what I was planning too. And just so you know, the name's Janine." With those words being said, she got up and left.  
>"What does that woman want from us? What in the name of Manfredi and Johnson is going on here?" Skipper didn't know why or how, but somehow he turned human and now he was locked away in some gigantic cage. Kowalski's fault, he concluded. .<br>"Skipper, I know what she's up to." Kowalski chimed in.  
>"I'm listening..."<br>"This is just a theory but I'm betting that turning animals into people could be extremely useful to the scientific world. If she discovered it, the power she'll have will be huge."  
>Skipper frowned, "So what does that have to do with us?"<br>"Everything, Skipper! Don't you get it? She already asked me how I built it! And I told her I don't know. Now she will have to do anything necessary to get what she needs to complete the machine! Inside us, we have the changed molecules and some of the stuff that she could definitely use. Inside our bodies we still have our penguin form and-"  
>"Don't bore me with scientific talk, Kowalski, get to the point." Skipper told him warily, eyes fixed on the tall penguin.<br>"She will have to destroy us in order to get what she wants."  
>Marlene paled, "Are you saying that she's trying to kill us?"<br>Kowalski shook his head, "No. Not yet anyways. If I am correct then she'll try to find every other way but if she doesn't, we're most likely doomed!" he sighed dramatically._

He shook his head. The word 'doomed' kept echoing in his head. 'Something was off about this woman! I knew it'  
>"Skipper, are you alright?" the woman, now known as Janine, asked after Skipper hasn't answered in a few moments. She stepped one step closer, a little concerned.<br>"I remember now." Skipper looked straight at her, "I know who you are and what you're after, Janine."  
>Her eyes widened. "That's preposterous!" she exclaimed. She was so close to reaching him, she won't let him slip away. No, not like the others.<br>"Oh but I think not." he backed away slowly, making barely noticeable steps.  
>"Don't be silly, I'm just a scientist researching. I don't mean any harm. Just come with me, its ok, there's nothing to be afraid of."<br>"You think I'll come with you. Ha." he laughed sarcastically. "I'm not going to let you catch me this time." he turned around and started running. Running as fast as his legs could carry him.  
>Janine tried chasing after him but her efforts were futile. She was no match to the highly trained warrior. Or so he thought himself to be. But she will get him, oh she will. Soon, and all of his little friends too. Something big is happening and she will be the one to figure out what.<p>

**Still not completely satisfied, but yet again, it's better than before. Thanks for those who read. :)**

**Edited: 2.6.12**


	3. Chapter 3

**Heyy there! Did you guys miss me? Although I was gone for like 2 days :P oh well…**

**Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter. It might be a little boring because it is mostly getting the plan together and finding everyone. **

**Disclaimer- I know FanFiction made us to Disclaimer just to depress us… I do not own PoM… or it's characters… *sigh***

He was running, his feet felt sore but he still ran. He was sure he had lost her, he was sure she was way gone but he didn't stop, he kept on running. What else was he to do? He was penguin transformed into a human. He had no money, no shelter, no team…  
>Ok he needed to go about this one step at a time.<br>Where? New York. Too basic. He needed to know the exact location.  
>When? The 16th of the month.<br>Time? Night, particularly late.  
>How? Transformed, battered, taken hostage and escaped. Details unclear.<br>Why? Janine. Also any other scientists that helped her.  
>So I figured out the basics." he sighed to himself. "Now where is that idiot of a soldier I call Kowalski." Kowalski would probably know how to get him out of the situation. If not, he could at least give him options.<br>He feared for his team and their well being. He might of gone out, but not necessarily all the others did too.  
>He kept running, slowing his pace a bit each time. He was jogging through an abandoned alley (or so he hoped to be) It was quiet and the only noise heard was the gentle thumping of his feet hitting the pavement floor.<br>Suddenly a weird noise stopped him. Or so he thought it was a noise... He listened, hoping to hear it again. But he didn't. Silence and darkness filled the place.  
>"Am I going crazy?" he wondered out loud. Then he heard the voice again. Someone was calling out a name. It was faint, but he was positive of it.<br>"Skipper"  
>He could barely hear anything.<br>"Skipper!"  
>Wait a second, he thought, that's my name! Someone's calling me!<br>Should I be excited or scared? It could be somebody dangerous. I should go check out the source of the noise.  
>He started running in the direction he thought was the noise.<br>It was so hard following the voice considering whoever called him stopped yelling so frequently.  
>"Skipper!" he heard once again.<br>He turned left... no it's right! Ugh why can't there be light? It's too damn confusing in the dark, he felt like he would hit a wall any second now. He decided to go straight.  
>"Skipper!" the voice was stronger, meaning he was getting closer.<br>"Skipper?" "I'm coming, I'm coming" he muttered under his breath.  
>"SKIPPER!" Skipper heard it oh-so clear now, but the problem was he couldn't see! If it was daylight or if this WASN'T an abandoned alley then maybe he could of spotted him already.<br>Left, right or straight? "Skipper!" left, definitely. He made a quick turn and suddenly bumped into something hard.  
>"Oomph!" he fell down to the floor.<br>"Skipper?" the tone was so familiar. Yet different familiar.  
>"Kowalski?" Skipper's tried looking at where he thought he is but all he saw was pitch darkness.<br>"Skipper it is you!" Kowalski let out a sigh of relief. "I could recognize your voice for miles." He gave a wide smile which Skipper couldn't see. "God Kowalski, your voice sounds so different then before..." Skipper smiled back. At least he wasn't alone; it felt like ages since he'd seen Kowalski. He didn't even hesitate starting the conversation, "I have so many questions to ask you!" he started in a happy sort of tone. "First of all, how the heck did your machine turn us human?" He slapped himself mentally, that question was pointless. He should have asked where the others are or at least something useful.  
>It felt like he had limited time to do all the talking before a big bomb will explode, and he needed to ask only the essentials.<br>"Well I... Dont know" he replied sheepishly. "It was supposed to turn ants into grasshoppers! I swear it wasn't supposed to do anything else."  
>"Well something had obviously gone wrong..." He squinted his eyes to see if he might be able to tell where he is or how he looked. He was curious how he would look like...<br>He was even more curious to how he, himself will look. He just hoped he won't be ugly; after all he has a reputation to maintain of being the pretty boy of the group. Right now, that was the least of his worries, but still hung over there with the rest of his stressed thoughts.  
>"I know, Skipper but I can't figure out what it can possibly be. I need to know how it happened to know how to fix it! But it is reversible…" he said, answering Skipper next question. 'So it was reversible...' he gave out a sigh of relief.<br>"Do you know where are the others?" that was the question that bothered him the most.  
>He shrugged, "We split up at some point. We tried to stay together but then Janine saw us and we ran away, each a different direction."<br>"We need to find them."  
>"Yes that's what I was trying to do. See, Skipper I have a plan in mind."<br>Skipper smiled. When doesn't he have a plan?  
>"Well as you know we are human. Humans need food, water and shelter to survive."<br>"Kowalski, all living species need that." He rolled his eyes.  
>"True but this time we're not in a zoo, meaning it won't be handed to us on a silver platter." his smile quickly turned into a frown as realization struck him like a ton of bricks.<br>He forgot that the human life was not like being in a zoo. In the zoo everything they needed was given to them. But now they weren't in a zoo, they will need to take care of themselves...  
>That means they won't get the food handed to them, they will have to buy it.<br>They won't have a comfy little habitat of their own; they will have to pay for a house.  
>They will need furniture and they will need some type of transportation. That means they will need money.<br>Ughh why does money mean so much in the human world?  
>"Skipper I'm afraid we'll have to get a job." he sighed deeply, "And also if my calculations are correct we are underaged. That means we'll have to go to school."<br>School? They needed to go to school... And get jobs? Whatever nightmare this is, he just hoped he will wake out of it soon. He never actually had a job or actually went to school, but from the rumors he heard, neither were pretty.  
>Curse Kowalski and his crazy inventions. Again, why did he have to make them human? Couldn't have been a nice seal or something?<br>"Uh huh... I see..." was all he could muster to say.  
>"I think all 6 of us together, even with minimum wage and only a part time job, we can still get enough money for a 2 bedroom apartment." Kowalski said while making the math in his head. "That is if we find the others." he added. "How will all 6 of us would fit in a 2 bedroom apartment?"<br>"2 each room and 2 in the living room... But Skipper, we will still need to buy beds and a fridge to keep all the food. Don't mention supplies for school and all that!"  
>The case seemed hopeless... How will they make enough money to get all that? Not forgetting they must have a legal guardian.<br>His brain started hurting processing all what Kowalski said. The human life was more complicated then he thought. He started to miss those simple times when he was a penguin… and they were off to do missions and everything was just fine.  
>"Though remember Skipper, this is only temporary. We could just rent an hotel."<br>"I think we should find the others and worry about the details later." Skipper said, taking charge. He started walking to where he thought was the right place to go (although he seriously had no clue). Kowalski nodded slowly and followed him.  
>"Do you know at least which direction they went?" he asked desperately when he realized he was going in circles.<br>"Well I'm not quite sure how I got here but I remember when we split up we were next to this bakery shop called: Bob's Muffins."  
>"And that is where?" Skipper asked annoyingly.<br>"I'm pretty sure it's straight ahead. That's how I got here."  
>He listened to Kowalski and walked forward. With each step he took, more light appeared.<br>"Are we close?" he asked Kowalski.  
>"Yeah I think. Just go towards the light…" he yawned. 'It was 5 in the morning; I would expect him to be tired. I'm tired also.'<br>"Go towards to the light, gotcha." He stifled a yawn and walked forward, barely seeing where he went.  
>"Hey there!" a happy voice shouted as he was making his way towards them.<br>"Oh not him…" Skipper sighed, almost fainting. "Couldn't it have been somebody else?"

**So yeahhhh that was it. I bet you already know who the person is… Oh well for those who don't, you'll find out next chapter. Sorry if I made any mistakes… I didn't proofread it too much… I just hope it turned out ok.**

**Anyways thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Next chapter will be up… uhhhh… soon enough.**

**And as I always say: Constructive criticism is welcomed but compliments are much better appreciated ;)**

**Edited: 2.6.12 **


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